Father suing children's mother, Children Services for alleged false report

By
Kaylee Remington, The Morning Journal

Friday, October 18, 2013

ELYRIA — A father has filed a lawsuit against the mother of his children, Lorain County Children Services and a caseworker for a report he says contains alleged false claims and statements about him.
According to the lawsuit, a letter was sent to the father with a copy of a Comprehensive Assessment Family Plan Report written by a caseworker.
The report was written based on information given by the mother, the suit states.
The caseworker’s report stated the children suffered abuse and neglect when the family was with him. It also stated that the father put the children and their mother through trauma, including domestic violence, physical abuse and possible sexual abuse.
Based on the assessment and the evaluation, the father must not have contact with his children and their mother until he is deemed safe by mental health professionals and the courts, the report stated.
The father did not participate in the making of the report, which contains information that is false, his suit says. A letter was written to the caseworker, but she did not respond to the father and there was no investigation, the lawsuit says.
The father wrote in his letter that there was never any incident of violence with the mother or children, nor was there any physical or sexual abuse.
In August, a Lorain County Domestic Relations Court magistrate indicated it would be risky to allow the father to see his children because of the caseworker’s report.
“Based on the letter and (the mother’s) claims, the plaintiff was denied telephone contact with his children,” the lawsuit stated. “Therefore, denying the plaintiff the only access available to him at this time to be a part of his children’s lives.”
The father wrote in the lawsuit that during a phone call with the caseworker, she said there was nothing the father could say to alter the letter. He sent a letter to the caseworker’s supervisor, requesting information on what the procedure was on filing an administrative grievance against the caseworker.
According to the lawsuit, he has not received a reply.
“Defendant (caseworker) violated plaintiff’s due process rights when she failed to properly investigate the claims made by (the mother),” the lawsuit stated. “She failed to incorporate in her report any information by the plaintiff, even though the report (pertains) to things that the plaintiff allegedly agrees to.”
The lawsuit also said that the caseworker’s report requested that the father sign and return it, but he did not sign it because of the false claims and allegations against him.
“Plaintiff believes there is no amount of damages that can be placed on what the effects the report caused him,” the lawsuit stated. “A price cannot be placed on a person not being able to have access to their children based on a result of another’s actions and or misdeeds.”
Jane Robertson, interim executive director for Lorain County Children Services, said the agency has not received a notice yet of the lawsuit and she could not comment.